Put your dream to the test - John C. Maxwell

Have you ever wondered about your future? Are you undecided, uncertain or scared of going on this path? This book lays out 10 simple, straightforward questions to help you decide if you can/should chase it. It is a short book, but you have to constantly think about your dream as you read along, which makes it longer than other books with the same number of pages.

Content: The 10 questions Maxwell laid out in this book are those that we will have to consider on our path towards whatever we aim to achieve. It contains many inspiring stories of people overcoming adversities and ultimately leaving a lasting legacy after their death. Your dream may not be as ambitious as those in this book, but it definitely is still relevant in our day-to-day lives. 

Estimated reading time needed: 10h

Key takeaways: 
1) There is no perfect timing for us to "get started" on achieving our dreams. There will always be something that hinders our path towards our dreams, and no journey is smooth-sailing all the time. We have to seize the moment and go after it no matter where we are. 

2)  Our dreams don't have to be big, but they should be powerful to you. Don't let society set the standard of success for you - it doesn't have to be all about money or rankings; decide it for yourself.

3) If your dream depends a lot on luck, you're in trouble. If it depends entirely on luck, you're living in Fantasyland.

4) The more concerned you become with things you can't control, the less you will do to improve the things you can control.

5) Life is, at best, messy. It's filled with surprises - both good and bad.

Recommendation: There were many things I've learned from this book, and it truly helped me in my personal growth and realisation of my dream. Be stern with yourself if/when you read this book, ask yourself those questions and answer them truthfully. Lying to yourself benefits no one. It was a pleasure to read this book, and am excited to read more of Maxwell's writings in the future. Do give this book a try, you will not regret it.

Happiness Becomes You - Tina Turner

Some of you may know Tina Turner, the musician, singer, dancer, who won multiple awards. I personally am not familiar with her works, but I was reading some articles about good positivity books, and they said if I had to choose one from the list, it would be this. I heeded and started reading. I am not a religious or spiritual person, so I couldn't really relate to some aspects of this book. However, I understood her messages on positivity, overcoming challenges, and ultimately making this world a better place for all humanity.

Content: Tina Turner covers many areas in this book, on spirituality and religion. It is astounding how she could retain so much positivity in life, not just for the future, but even her past. Her past was not something people would want to go through, from being unwanted by her mother, to an abusive marriage. At that time, she was in a deep, dark place, and ended up taking 50 sleeping pills, hoping to end her life. She survived, and believed that there was something else in store for her. Her perspective of life took many years to develop and grow, as she became a more positive, resilient person. There were many things that she wanted to do, and she slowly envisioned what she wanted, and achieved them. 

Estimated reading time needed: 5-8h

Key takeaways: 
1) Everybody goes through difficult times in life, and we need to understand that everything happens for a reason, but that reason sometimes eludes us. This way, we are able to frame our difficulties into opportunities for us to get out of the dark place and grow from it. This is the concept of "changing poison into medicine".

2) Tina believes that as long as we can change ourselves, our circumstances and situations around us will change accordingly. As long as we're constantly improving ourselves, we're on the best path in life and things will start to fall in to place. Sometimes, making such choices could be simply to think of a more positive thought.

3) Because everything happens for a reason, we are who we are today because of what happened in our past. As long as we love who we are now, we can come to terms with what happened. Our perception determines the way events affect us. We can thus change our past by changing how the past events affect us.

Recommendation: It was a really good book, and doesn't take too much time to read. If you're going through a difficult situation, this book will be useful. If you're not going through a difficult situation, it is still a good book to remind us of the good around us, and to contribute to the good of humanity. Overall, it was too spiritual and religious for me, but I appreciate the teachings in this book, especially the "Ten Worlds" concept which is similar to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. I have greater respect for Tina now that I've learned about her past and how she came to terms with it after decades of struggle. For only a few hours of reading, I believe it is worth the investment of your time to read this book, to have a more open mind.

Mastering Private Equity, by B. White, C. Zeisberger, and M. Prahl.

Being a finance student, I've been interested in the concept of private equity (PE) for some time. In school, we mostly learn to apply what we've learned to public equities, because of their availability of information. The concept of PE seemed elusive, even after doing some online courses on it. However, this book covered most if not all there is to know.

Content: The concept of PE is not as straightforward as its name suggests. PE encompasses private equities, but has been becoming more like private capital instead, since it also includes real estate, infrastructure, distressed PE secondaries, mezzanine funds etc. Traditionally, PE looks at 3 areas - venture, growth equity and buyouts. They generally follow the same process, from deal sourcing to the 2 stages of due diligence to negotiation and documentation. However, differ in each areas. For example, equity control is crucial in buyouts more so than in venture investments, because of the need to make financial, strategic and operational decisions.

Estimated reading time needed: 25-30h. I took about 2 weeks, reading close to 2h each day.

Key takeaways: 
1) PE is not just about valuing companies, finding alpha and generating returns. PE is also a people business, and there is a need to understand the people PE companies invest with, through developing real relationships based on trust and respect.

2) In valuing companies, it is more of an art, and efforts to mitigate risks is more of a science. To get the best returns, choosing the right firms to partner with is especially important for businesses, and choosing the right firms to invest in is important for PE firms. This is why in deal sourcing, the highest bidder may not always be chosen.

3) Perhaps the most crucial part of PE investing isn't the pre-investment phase where investors source for deals and identify investment opportunities. Instead, it could be the post-investment period where value is created and realised on exit. This is where the PE firm implements a solid corporate governance model, align the teams, basically being more "hands-on". 

Recommendation: Personally, PE is an industry that I'm interested in as a career, which is why I've enjoyed reading this book. Although it is still extremely complicated to me, it helped me gain a better understanding of this concept. I will probably have to read it again some time in the future as a refresher, but I recommend it to anyone interested in this field. However, do note that this is not a short book, especially since it's very technical with some jargons. 

Ikigai, by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles

Ikigai is the Japanese term for having a sense of fulfilment in life. This comes in all aspects of your life, from work to diet. I actually read this book before I started this blog, but it is truly an amazing book that I believe should be read by everybody, which is why I'm adding a review of it here.

Content: It is informative and positive. The author explains what Ikigai is throughout the book, because Ikigai is not something that can be explained by a mere definition. I learned more about what Ikigai is, how it may explain the long life expectancy of the Japanese people, especially in Okinawa, and how everyone can achieve their own Ikigai. This comes from our daily living habits, how we spend our free time, what we eat, and even what we do during retirement. 

Estimated reading time needed: 5 hours

Key takeaways: 
1) Our Ikigai is the reason we get up in the morning.

2) Those who give up doing what they love lose their purpose in life, which is why it's important to keep doing things of value, improve and help others.

3) The happiest people are the ones who spend the most time in a "state of flow". They do this by focusing on one thing at a time, things that can bring them into this state of flow rather than those that bring immediate pleasure.

Recommendation: There are many invaluable lessons that I've learned from this book, and I would definitely recommend this book to everyone. Especially for people living busy lives in fast-paced societies, it is easy to get trapped in an endless cycle between work and home, forgetting about their "why".